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April 24, 2025 • 15 minutes
How to retire in 10 years? If that’s something that you’ve been wondering lately then…on your marks, get set… RETIRE! If you are in your 50s or 60s, you may be wondering (or dreaming of) how to retire in 5 years. Don’t let the economic uncertainty scare you away from your goal. In fact, you may find that you can retire even earlier. Regardless of the exact timing, congratulations, you are in the home stretch of a lifelong race to this exciting time of your life.
Here are 17 things to do within 10 years of retirement to ensure you have the future you want.
As a pre-retiree, this is your last chance to amass the savings you need to retire comfortably. You might be surprised by how much you can save when you are a few to 10 years from retirement.
Pre-retirees should use the motivation of their looming retirement date to buckle down and save as much as possible. (Unless you are one of those people who have already saved too much.)
If being just 10 years from retirement is not enough incentive, know that pre-retirees get extra tax incentives. The government encourages workers age 50 and older to save more than younger employees by increasing the contribution limits to 401(k) and IRA accounts.
According to the IRS:
Learn more about tax-advantaged catch-up contributions for when you are over 50.
Did you know that you can max out your contributions in multiple types of retirement accounts?
Go for it! Imagine if you set a savings goal of $39,000 if you are single or $78,000 if you are married!
After 50 you can put in $31,000 to your 401k and $8,000 into an IRA. And, if you are you married, you can double those amounts to save $78,000 in tax-advantaged accounts each year.
But, your savings don’t need to stop there. If you can save more, go ahead and sock the money away in taxable savings. You will be happy to have the cash later.
According to research from Charles Schwab, more than half of young adults (53%) believe their parents will leave them an inheritance, versus the average 21% of people who actually received an inheritance of any kind between 1989 and 2007.
If you are banking on an inheritance to help you with retirement, you might want to have a frank conversation with your mom, dad, aunt, or uncle. Medical costs have risen tremendously and it is easy to find stories of families who have used up every last dime because they live longer than expected or they need to go into assisted living which can be tremendously expensive and will quickly drain savings.
You might also want to take steps to protect the inheritance. You could consider purchasing long-term care insurance or a life insurance policy for your parents.
Debt can be a problem for retirement. It is best to split from the masses and try hard to pay it off before you stop working.
According to the Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI), 77% of families headed by people ages 55-64 and over have debt. And, the average amount of debt is $108,011. Worse, these numbers have gone up in recent years.
In retirement, your income is normally reduced to a fixed level, derived from Social Security, pensions, and other retirement savings that have been amassed over the years. A fixed income means that you will not have more money tomorrow to pay off the debt than you do today. You will simply be paying more interest — wasting money every month you carry the debt.
Here are 6 Ways to Have a Debt-Free Retirement. Try out a debt-free scenario in the Boldin Retirement Planner to really see the difference in your finances.
Being 5 to 10 years from retirement means that you have time to tackle your debt. Now is the time!
A survey from Fidelity Investments found that finances and retirement planning are extremely difficult subjects for married couples.
In fact, the survey found that less than half of couples make routine financial decisions, such as budgeting and paying bills, together and only 38 percent jointly discuss their investment and savings strategies for retirement.
Other research finds that couples might not even be on the same page with how they want to spend their time in retirement.
This lack of communication is likely to prove problematic. Use the Retirement Planner to facilitate a conversation about what you want out of retirement and what you will be able to afford.
When you are 10 years from retirement you’ll still have enough time to make adjustments and compromises to get together on the same page for a happy future.
Predicting exactly how much you are going to spend in retirement can help you go a long way toward achieving financial security. And, the less you spend, the less you need to have saved.
When budgeting your retirement, consider that your costs will likely vary. Most people spend a little more when they first retire, less as they age, and a lot more as health declines.
Learn more about how to do budget projections for retirement or try out different spending patterns in the retirement planner. The Boldin Retirement Planner lets you set different levels of expenditures for as many different periods of your life as you can imagine. You can also create a detailed budget for your entire future.
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If you are somewhere around 10 years from retirement, you really need to think carefully about your future healthcare costs. There are three categories of spending you need to consider:
Early Retirement Healthcare: If you retire before age 65, funding healthcare before you become eligible for Medicare can be expensive. Explore 9 ways to cover healthcare for an early retirement.
Medicare: You are sorely mistaken if you think Medicare will pay for everything. According to Fidelity, an average retired couple age 65 in 2024 may need approximately $315,000 saved (after tax) to cover health care expenses in retirement.
Long Term Care: Not everyone will require long-term care, but everyone needs a plan for how to pay for it if they do need it. Here are 10 alternatives to long term care insurance.
The Boldin Retirement Planner has some very robust functionality to help you predict your own healthcare costs. The system allows you to:
Some experts recommend that your investments become more and more conservative the older you get. However, the right allocations will depend on how much money you have and how much you want spend. And, most advisors suggest that you try to at least earn returns that will enable you to keep up with inflation — or even get ahead.
The right asset allocation for you will depend on your goals, time horizon, and overall financial profile. Explore simple ways to develop the best asset allocation strategy for you.
However, beyond asset allocation and being concerned about your returns, now is the time to start thinking about retirement income planning. How are you going to turn your assets into income?
When you are 5–10 years from retirement, you often face a lot of mouths to feed — your own today, saving for your future, kids in college, and parents with financial, medical issues, or in long term care.
If you can not afford to fund it all, you will need to prioritize and make trade-offs. Many financial advisors will advise retirement savings over spending on family since there are loans for college and some options for public assistance for long term care but no financial options for paying for retirement beyond working and savings.
Explore how to fund a child’s education and use the retirement planner to run different scenarios and find a solution you can be comfortable with.
It is easy to get wrapped up in the financial aspects of planning for retirement. However, a plan for what to do in retirement is perhaps more important. The happiest retirees have a purpose and focused interests.
You want to think about:
It is time to start dreaming! Plan your dreams!
Think carefully about where you will live in retirement. This is the one time in your life when you are not tethered by your connections and a job and you can choose a place to live that completely suits your temperament and interests.
Relocating can also help your finances and even enable an earlier retirement if you can release home equity to add to your retirement savings.
Explore this complete guide to downsizing for retirement or try out different housing scenarios in the Retirement Planner.
Make your future concrete. Set a specific retirement date and start actively imagining the future you really want. Tell your friends and family. Plan a retirement party!
These are all proven tactics for helping you achieve a goal.
Don’t wait for retirement, you deserve to be happy now.
Transition times can be tricky for happiness. You are leaving something behind and looking forward to the future, but happiness gurus suggest that contentment comes from being very rooted in the present.
Explore 8 ideas for how to thrive as you transition to retirement.
Consider Retirement Tax Planning
As you near retirement, smart tax planning can significantly extend the life of your savings. One key strategy is asset location—placing different investments in the right accounts. For example, tax-efficient assets like index funds may be better suited for taxable accounts, while income-producing investments can go into tax-deferred or Roth accounts to reduce your annual tax burden.
Consider Roth conversions in the years before you begin required minimum distributions (RMDs). Converting traditional IRA funds to a Roth IRA now—when your tax rate may be lower—can reduce future RMDs and provide tax-free income later. This is especially useful in managing your taxable income in retirement.
You’ll also want to plan for the “tax torpedo,” a sharp increase in taxes triggered when Social Security benefits become taxable due to additional income from RMDs, pensions, or other sources. Coordinating withdrawals from various accounts and using tax-efficient withdrawal strategies can help smooth your income over time and minimize surprises at tax time.
Use the Boldin Retirement Planner to reduce your lifetime tax expenditure through smart decisions.
You don’t want to call it quits, throw a retirement party and then find out you miscalculated your future financial security! The Boldin Retirement Planner is the best tool to help you build a robust and reliable plan. But, when you are making life-defining decisions, you might want an extra set of eyes to help you assess your choices.
Boldin offers two options for personalized support:
If you are preparing for an event, there is a lot you can do before stepping up to the starting line to ensure success.
Retirement is no different, and as a pre-retiree, now is your chance to do the things you need to do for a secure future. Use the deadline as motivation.
The Boldin Retirement Planner will help you set goals, make a plan and maintain and update your tactics over time. This tool is easy to use but is constantly running thousands of calculations behind the scenes to offer you personalized ideas for improving your wealth and security.
What to Do the Five Years Before You Retire
If you’re five years from retirement, it’s time to make a shift. These final years before you stop working are critical—and they’re packed with opportunity. You’ll want to start protecting your savings, refining your plan, and practicing how you’ll live in retirement. This means reducing risk in your portfolio, estimating your future expenses in detail, and paying down any lingering debt. If you’re wondering how to retire in 5 years, this is your wake-up call: it’s not just about saving more—it’s about getting crystal clear on what your future life looks like and stress-testing your numbers now, while there’s still time to adjust.
And if you’re wondering how to retire in 10 years? Start planning like retirement is right around the corner. The earlier you lock in your long-term income plan and optimize your Social Security strategy, the more confident you’ll feel—whether your goal is to retire in ten years or just five. Many people in this window begin exploring flexible work, downsizing their home, or shifting to lower-cost living arrangements to ease the transition. The Boldin Retirement Planner can help you model those scenarios and estimate exactly how each choice affects your long-term security.
It’s never too early—or too late—to start asking, What will my money need to do for me once I stop working?
If you’ve been wondering how to retire in 10 years, you’re not alone. More and more people are realizing that a decade is just enough time to make meaningful changes—without feeling overwhelmed. But it takes focus. These years are your window to take control, close gaps, and get ahead of uncertainty.
That might mean increasing your savings rate, making a strategic career pivot, or exploring new housing options that free up monthly cash flow. It may also involve locking in your income plan, estimating your retirement budget, and building a Social Security strategy that supports long-term goals.
At Boldin, we’ve seen hundreds of people use tools like the Retirement Planner and Savings Playbook to move from “I hope I can retire” to “I know I can.” Ten years may feel like a countdown—but it’s also your runway. Use it wisely.
A: Begin by creating a detailed retirement plan. Understand your expenses, income sources, and savings gap. Then increase contributions, cut unnecessary spending, and optimize your investments. Boldin’s Retirement Planner makes this easier by giving you a clear, customized path.
A: It depends on your flexibility. Retiring in 10 years is possible, especially if you’re willing to make bold changes—like reducing your cost of living or working part-time in early retirement. The key is running the numbers now and being willing to adapt.
A: As you get closer, focus on reducing risk in your portfolio, finalizing your income strategy, and testing your budget. The five years before you retire are a critical time to adjust expectations and reinforce your plan with expert help or tools like our Retirement Planner.
A: You’ll want to think beyond just savings. Consider Social Security timing, taxes, healthcare, and possible part-time work. Use strategies like bucket planning or dynamic withdrawal rates to adapt as your needs change.
A: Downsizing can unlock home equity, reduce monthly expenses, and simplify your lifestyle—all of which can help support early retirement. It’s not the right choice for everyone, but it’s worth modeling in a retirement planner to see how much flexibility it can give you.
Take financial wellness into your own hands and do it yourself retirement planning: easy, comprehensive, reliable.
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